This invention relates to safety devices for preventing the combination of multiple dial combination locks of the type employed on luggage and the like from being changed.
Manufacturers of combination locks for luggage articles have long recognized that convenience and ease of operation are important factors contributing to the saleability of their products. Purchasers of luggage having combination locks have also demanded that the combination locks be provided with the facility for changing the combination. Many early combination locks incorporating a combination-changing feature employed a shift lever which projected out of the back of the lock frame and which enabled the combination dials to be uncoupled from associated sleeves so that they could be rotated to a new combination. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,338 to Gehrie, issued Dec. 17, 1968, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.) However, this arrangement required that an opening be provided in the lining material of the luggage case to permit access to the shift lever, and required that the luggage case be opened before the combination of the lock could be changed, which was somewhat inconvenient. Accordingly, combination locks were developed in which the combination could be changed from the faceplate of the lock. An example of one such combination lock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,923 to Bako, issued Nov. 11, 1979, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The Bako lock comprises an actuator disposed on the faceplate of the lock which is movable from a rest position when the lock is on combination to open the lock, and is further movable in the same direction to a combination-changing position to enable the combination to be changed. The Bako lock also includes a depressible operator that is located within and protrudes from a slot in the faceplate of the lock that receives an eye member attached to the tongue of a hasp, and a stop mechanism that prevents movement of the actuator to the combination-changing position until the operator is depressed. When the hasp is in closed position (with the eye member inserted into the slot and engaged by a latching element) the tongue of the hasp covers the operator. When the actuator is operated to open the combination lock and the hasp is raised, the operator is exposed and may be depressed to enable the actuator to be moved to the combination-changing position.
Combination locks having combination-changing mechanisms have created problems for retailers and for manufacturers due to the natural tendency of customers to play with the combination locks of luggage articles on display. If a customer, either illicitly or inadvertently, changes the combination from the 0-0-0 combination normally set into the lock by the manufacturer when the lock is shipped, the combination may be lost.
To avoid this problem, the manufacturer of the Gehrie lock (the present assignee) employs a flat removable fiber washer press-fitted over the portion of the shift lever which projects from the back of the lock frame. The frame is formed of stamped metal and a portion of its back wall is outwardly bowed to provide clearance for the combination dials located within the housing formed by the frame and the faceplate. The washer is sized to abut this outwardly bowed portion to prevent movement of the shift lever to the combination-changing position until the washer is removed.
The manufacturer of the Bako combination lock described above (the assignee of the present invention) employs a small removable plastic tab inserted between the faceplate of the lock and an angled portion of the depressible operator. The tab has a portion formed to extend slightly into the slot and to engage a side of the slot to prevent the tab from falling out. Engagement between the angled portion and the tab prevents the operator from being depressed as required to enable the actuator to move to the combination-changing position. When the luggage article is sold, the plastic tab may be removed so that the combination-changing mechanism may be operated.
There are also combination locks having a combination-changing mechanism which is operated by the same actuator used for opening the lock, and which do not employ an operator which must be operated to enable the actuator to be moved to the combination-changing position, as does the Bako lock. In such combination locks, the actuator may be readily moved to the combination-changing position whenever the combination lock is on combination. It is desirable, therefore, to provide removable safety devices for such combination locks which prevent the premature operation of the combination-changing mechanism, and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.